Root

ROOT (שֹׁ֫רֶשׁ, H9247; ῥίζα, G4844). That part of the plant which penetrates the soil and draws up sap and nourishment for the plant.

The root is the source of a moral or spiritual condition. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim 6:10 ASV), and a “root of bitterness” causes the defilement of apostasy (Deut 29:18; Heb 12:15).

The root of a family or nation is its progenitor (Rom 11:16). Messiah as the “root of Jesse” (Isa 11:10) is not a sucker from the root but Himself the origin and strength of the Messianic line; “the root and the offspring of David” (Rev 5:5; 22:16) denotes Christ’s divine-human nature as the source and descendant of David. The Messianic Servant’s appearance as a “root out of dry ground” (Isa 53:2) depicts His lowly surroundings in contrast to His inner vigor.